Prof. Dr. Carla Jaimes Betancourt

Principal Investigator


Department of Anthropology of the Americas
Oxfordstraße 15
D-53111 Bonn
Phone: +49 228 73 4446
cjaimes@uni-bonn.de
Carla Jaimes Betancourt
© IAE

Academic Profile

Heritage and SAD: Indigenous Strategies for Resilience in the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivia

This research project focuses on the Llanos de Moxos in Bolivia, a biodiversity and cultural hotspot with a 10,000-year history. This region, covering 110,000 square kilometers, includes 14 protected areas, 18 indigenous territories, and three Ramsar sites. It contains the Amazon's most monumental archaeological sites and intricate water infrastructures. The region's agricultural practices, land use changes, and early low-density urbanism illustrate different forms and levels of dependency. Since the 1960s, indigenous communities in the Llanos de Moxos have advocated for the recognition of their territories as politically, socially, and culturally significant. They emphasize the intrinsic cultural value of their lands, despite the challenges posed by fragmented historical memory. In this context, the project aims to rethink heritage paradigms beyond Eurocentric and material frameworks, emphasizing the importance of preserving indigenous knowledge and sustainable practices.

This project aims to explore the complex relationship between heritage and dependency from an indigenous perspective, focusing on the Llanos de Moxos region. By fostering strong alliances among these communities and promoting decolonial archaeology through collaborative and participatory methods, it seeks to strengthen the adaptive resilience of indigenous communities – preserving cultural identity, traditional knowledge, and sustainable practices amidst the challenges of globalization. 

Archaeologist specializing in Indigenous and collaborative archaeology in Amazonia, with over 20 years of fieldwork experience in Bolivia and across Latin America. My research integrates archaeology, heritage studies, and material culture through interdisciplinary and community-based approaches. I focus on the historical depth and contemporary significance of Indigenous landscapes, contributing to broader discussions on urbanism, sustainability, and biocultural heritage in the Amazon.

2011 
PhD in Archaeology, University of Bonn, Germany (DAAD Fellowship)

2004  
Licentiate in Archaeology, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia

since 2022
Professor of Cultural Heritage, Department of Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Germany 

2021
Deputy Professor, Department of Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Germany

2018 
Visiting Professor, Department of Archaeology, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru

2016–2020
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology of  the Americas, University of Bonn, Germany

2015–2016
Visiting Professor, Department of Anthropology/Archaeology, Universidad Mayor de San Andres, La Paz, Bolivia

2013 
Visiting Professor, Department of Anthropology/Archaeology, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Quito, Ecuador

2011–2014 
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Bonn 

2023–2025
Chair, Community of the Americas, European Association of Archaeologists (EAA)

since 2022
Member, Society for American Archaeology (SAA)

since 2021 
RIDAP (Red de Información y Discusión sobre Arqueología y Patrimonio)

since 2020
Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA)

since 2019 
Corresponding Member, German Archaeological Institute

since 2019
Advisory Committee Member, Shanghai Archaeology Forum (SAF)

2025
Peter Ucko Memorial Award, World Archaeological Congress

2023
Field Discovery Award, Shanghai Archaeology Forum

2020
Nomination for Teaching Award, University of Bonn

2017
Recognition for contributions to History of the Llanos de Moxos. Universidad Autónoma del Beni José Ballivian. Trinidad, Bolivia

2012
Recognition for contributions to national culture, House of Culture of Beni, Bolivia 

2021–2025
Heritage and Territoriality: Tacana, Tsimane’ and Waiwai. PI, Univ. Bonn with Federal University of Amazonas & WCS

since 2020
Working Group for the Llanos de Moxos. Interdisciplinary consortium including WCS, Moore Foundation, UABJB, CIPCA, Stanford (NatCap), Univ. Bonn

2019–2022
HERCA Project. Co-Investigator, international team (Reading, São Paulo, Oxford, Uni Bonn)

2019–2020
Mojos Pre-Hispanic 3D. Co-PI with DAI & University of Exeter

  • Expanding Conservation Opportunities in Bolivia's Llanos de Moxos, funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and WCS-Bolivia, US$ 126,997 (2026)
  • Pre-Columbian Amazonian Urbanism, PI, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, €24,400 (2024)
  • Biocultural Landscape of the Llanos de Moxos, PI, funded by WCS / Moore Foundation, US$ 98,000 (2023–2025)
  • Heritage and Territoriality, PI, University of Bonn, funded by the VolkswagenStiftung, €1,097,700 (2022–2025)
  • Interdisciplinary Expedition to the Great Tectonic Lakes of Exaltation in the Llanos de Moxos, Bolivia, funded by WCS / Moore Foundation, US$ 20,000 (2021)
  • HERCA Project, Co-I, funded by AHRC (UK) and FAPESP (Brazil) (2019–2022)
  • Pre-Hispanic Mojos 3D, Co-PI, funded by the DAI / Urban Interventions (Bolivia), co-funding total US$ 86,000 (2019)
  • DAAD Visiting Professors Program 2017/18, 2019/20, 2026 €85,708

Total sum of €1.2 million

  • 2025. With G. Fernandez, M. P. Shock, H. Nina, H. Delgadillo, G. Prestes-Carneiro, A. Lima,V. M. Nunes, and R. Torrico. "Historic landscapes, diversified livelihoods in the southwestern Amazon: the case of Lake Rogaguado and Lake Ginebra (Bolivia)." In Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology 4: 1662950. 
  • 2025. With P. Ayala and L. Garcia. "Collaborative Archaeology in the Indigenous Territory of the Mosetén, Beni Bolivia." In Archaeologies.  
  • 2025. With L. M. Cascon, I. M. M. Rodrigues, J. X. Wai Wai, and A. A. de Souza. "Sobre arcos que precisam de cordas e artefatos que criam territórios: reflexões interculturais sobre a experiência de uma comitiva Waiwai em museus europeus." In Revista Arqueologia Pública 20: e025004.
  • 2025. With T. Hermenegildo, H. Prümers et al. "Stable isotope evidence for pre-colonial maize agriculture and animal management in the Bolivian Amazon." In Nature Human Behaviour 9: 464–471. 
  • 2024. With L. García-Soto and I. M. M. Rodrigues. "The Ethnoarchaeology of Pottery Tempers in the Bolivian Amazon: Two Indigenous Traditions of Paste Recipes with Preparations of Freshwater Sponge, Pottery Sherds, Bone, and Turtle Shell." In Ethnoarchaeology 16(2): 332–360.
  • 2024. With M. L. Endere and Z. Lehm. "Procesos participativos para la protección del patrimonio arqueológico en el Municipio de Trinidad, Bolivia." In Arqueología 30(2): 1–23.
  • 2023. With I. Podgorny and N. Richard. "El redescubrimiento de la arqueología de las tierras bajas bolivianas en los repositorios del Museo de la Plata. Algunos resultados del Proyecto Scicomove." In Boletín de la Sociedad Chilena de Arqueología 55: 32–52. 
  • 2023. With K. Noack. "Indigene Gesellschaften." In Einführung in die Lateinamerikastudien, edited by M. Brander, 45–71. Erich Schmidt Verlag.
  • 2022. With H. Prümers, J. Iriarte, M. Robinson, and M. Schaich. "Lidar Reveals Pre-Hispanic Low-Density Urbanism in the Bolivian Amazon." In Nature 606: 325–328.
  • 2022. With Y. Maezumi, S. Elliot, M. Robinson, J.G. de Souza, D. Alves, M. Grosvenor, L. Hilbert, D.H. Urrego, W.D. Gosling, and J. Iriarte. "Legacies of Indigenous Land Use and Cultural Burning in the Bolivian Amazon Rainforest Ecotone." In Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 377(1849).
  • 2022. With B. Pellegrini. "Present with a Taste of the Past: Chicha chiquitana, its Recipes and its Materiality." In Heft 'Food Lokal/Global', edited by S. Schütze and K. Noack, 123–141. Berliner Blätter 86. Humboldt-Universität.
  • 2021. With E. Neves, L. Furquim, C. Levis, B. Rocha, J. Watling, F. Ozorio de Almeida, A. Junqueira, C. Moraes, G. Morcote, M. Shock, and E. Tamanaha. "Peoples of the Amazon before European Colonizati." In The Amazon We Want, edited by Science Panel of the Amazon, 8.1–8.39.
  • 2021. "Erland Nordenskiöld: Pionero de la antropología y arqueología." In Fotografías Etnológicas y Arqueológicas de Erland Nordenskiöld. Misiones de Trabajo de Campo 1901 a 1927, edited by Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore, 15–24. Fundación Cultural del Banco Central de Bolivia.
  • 2021. With T. Tagliati. "Koriabo Complex from the Maicuru River in the BASA Museum." In Koriabo: From the Caribbean Sea to the Amazon River, edited by C. Barreto, H. Lima, S. Rostain, and C. Hoffman, 163–181. Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi.
  • 2020. With D. Ballestero. "The Absence of 13000 Years of Amazonian Cultural History in European Museum." In Indiana 37(2): 25–46.
  • 2020. With M. Robinson, S. Elliott, Y. Maezumi, L. Hilbert, D. Alves, J, de Souza and J. Iriarte. "Anthropogenic Soil and Settlement Organisation in the Bolivian Amazon." In Geoarchaeology: 1–16.
  • 2018. With H. Prümers. "A la sombra de los Andes. Arquitectura monumental en los Llanos de Mojos." In La cooperación científica francesa en latinoamérica. Avances recientes en datación y arqueometría en los Andes, edited by I. Ghezzi and L.E. Salcedo, 253–273. Actes et Mémoires 45. IFEA. 
  • 2018. "Reflexiones sobre la filiación arawak de dos áreas culturales en los Llanos de Mojos de Bolivia." In Interpretando Huellas. Arqueología, Etnohistoria y Etnografía de los Andes y sus Tierras Bajas, edited by M. Muñoz, 89–106. Grupo Editorial Kipus.
  • 2017. "Diferencias cronológicas, funcionales y culturales en la cerámica de los Llanos de Mojos, Beni –Boliv." In Arqueología de la vertiente oriental Surandina: interacción macro-regional, materialidades, economía y ritualidad, edited by B. Ventura, G. Ortiz, and B. Cremonte, 25–50. Sociedad Argentina de Antropología.
  • 2015. El poder de las plumas. La colección de arte plumario del Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore, según la cadena de producción. MUSEF.